a better place
by saltycaramelx
Summary: where the boy with blue eyes smiles.


**AN: Hi! This is both my first ever public fanfic and Noragami fanfic. Spoilers for chapter 85!**

**I thought it would be interesting to focus on Hiyori's thoughts during this time and kind of reflect on the different things that has happened to her after she became half-phantom. I also wanted to explore how she felt about her grandmothers parting words to her. **

**I want to place emphasis on the fact that this is my first ever Noragami fanfic, so if I did make a mistake be sure to let me know! **

**Yatori is heavily present here (lmao before i wrote "sprinkled around", but we both know they're just too cute)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Above her were dark clouds that gathered around, as if the Heavens themselves were also paying their respect. Showering Hiyori Iki and her closest family and friends with the bittersweet rain that always seemed to make an appearance on sombre days.

There they sat, a few feet away from the black coffin where her grandmother's body lay, silent and still. Flowers, her favourite kinds, sat against the wooden box and collected the moisture of the stinging cold air. Her brother stood beside her and clasped her hand gently. She gave both his hand and the handle of her black umbrella a squeeze.

Incense burned her lungs- though not painfully. Hiyori Iki had shed her goodbye tears the moment her grandmother had gently left this world, and still continues to days after.

And just like the rain so was too the concluding chapter to her grandmother's life. Bittersweet. Reunited with her love after so many years apart, however parting with everyone else in her family. Including Hiyori herself.

The last few words she spoken to her rung above the soft wails of her mother and father.

_"I think I would rather be with the person I love the most."_

* * *

a better place.

* * *

After the funeral, Hiyori numbly sat on the car ride home to her grandmother's home. The space between the wooden walls held nothing but painful memories of a dearly loved family member. Every so often her ears would pick up the phantom of her grandmother's voice. Whispering stories to her and her brother.

She now lays on her bed. Dulled magenta eyes, looks out the window and into the sky. Was it just her tears disorienting her vision or does the sky actually look that somber? She wiped at her eyes once she felt a tear slip.

In truth, Hiyori didn't just feel the sorrow of her grandmother's lost. She felt guilt.

Would she be able to see her grandmother again now she has crossed to the Fare Shore? Will she become a regalia for another God? The thought both delighted and sickened Hiyori with guilt. It was another result of being stuck. Balancing on the thin tightrope that separated the near and far shore. How unfair it would be for _her_ be able to see her grandmother_, _happy and content, while her family mourned with no such ability?

Hiyori lifted her gaze to the ceiling. Her thoughts lingering on the question. At least the positive side of things, although difficult to see through the haze of thick emotions, was just that. Positive.

She's in a better place now. With the person who she exchanges love filled hearts with.

_"At a time like this, you need to be honest with your feelings."_

The half phantom's sniffles halted along with her breath. She pushed herself up from her bed. Her gaze never leaving her desk. Or, more accurately, the broken shrine sitting on her desk.

_"Go to him."_

Hiyori sat up from her bed and made her way to her desk in two short strides. She couldn't help but think it looked something divine- with moonbeams pointing to the shrine she'd made.

Hiyori remembers making this fondly. Fashioning the tiny walls, roofs and doors out of whatever spare materials she could salvage without being completely sure her brother wouldn't be annoyed. She thought it a light-hearted gesture, a simple gift to show her appreciation to the boy God who saved her time and time again.

But when she presented to him, she knew it was a far more impactful gift than she anticipated.

That evening she saw Yato's ethereal cyan eyes spill with silent tears as he stared at the shrine. Initially, she thought the shrine upset him. In actuality, it was his response to the reality of a dream. A dream, once upon a time, Yato was told would never happen.

Hiyori could remember the surge of happiness she felt, embracing the familiar feeling in a whole new intensity. Hiyori became an addict to the effect Yato brought on her. She'd feel it tingle her skin whenever they'd brush fingers doing the dishes at Kofuku's. She'd feel it release a swarm of butterflies whenever he'd smile or say her name, and felt the swarm flutter to her mouth and steal her words. She'd feel it in the little moments, like the time he'd given her a flower, and felt it spread in her chest. She even feel it writing in her journal. Reliving those memories.

Yato was a God who brought happiness.

Which is why the thought of anyone saying he shouldn't have a shrine made her bite her lip until she tasted metal. She didn't think much of it when Yato said a shrine was the equivalent of saying "no one wants you," considering she _had_ the shrine to give to him. But when she wrote about it in her journal the words hit her. And hurt her.

But he _was,_ no- _is-_ appreciated. By Hiyori, Yukine, Kofuku and Daikoku too. In the end, it always felt as though Hiyori had a second family with them. A family that always seems to be given a bad hand in life. Yukine, try as he might, can't seem to hide the admiration and affection in his eyes when he'd look at Yato. Their dynamic was unique. A weird, broke father (who also was a God), and a dry humoured fourteen year old boy, (who also never aged). They loved each other, and would risk their lives in order to keep each other safe.

With gentle hands, Hiyori slowly picked up the shrine, and out of the moonlight. The broken pieces still lay there. She read the name carved into the small wooden sign at the base of the shrine.

Yato.

With the image of a dark-haired God and caramel eyed boy fresh in her mind, she set the shrine back on the desk and searched the house for some glue, nails and a hammer. Wiping her eyes in between the minutes.

She'll wait for her family to come back. And much like the majority of her life, her memories of him and her family are uncertain. But she'll never forget the warmth in her chest, transporting her to a world neither the far or near shore. Just hope. And love.

* * *

**So, like I said, this is my first fanfic, and I was going to publish it much earlier, but due to internet problems, I was barely able to load anything, though I did write some hundred words or so. I came back to re-read and tweak it, and so far I'm quite pleased. Especially since I originally didn't like it was much as I'd like.**

**I honestly haven't been in the Noragami fandom very long, but I can see why people love it. I absolutely love the concept of Gods and phantoms- especially when you add characters like Yato, Hiyori and Yukine.**

**I hope you've enjoyed it! Make sure to let me know what I should improve on, since I am still pretty young and I know my writing is far from perfect. All the more reason to practice and write more fanfics though, no? And not just Noragami ;)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**\- Caramel**


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